A NEW YEAR, A NEW ERA AND A WISH FOR JIM

A NEW YEAR, A NEW ERA AND A WISH FOR JIM by The Oracle

The financial world this week celebrates the end of a year which many are happy to see done and dusted. It was a difficult period that saw world financial markets in meltdown, businesses going broke and people losing their jobs. Given all the circumstances, the new year brings some hope of better times and I only wish we could say the same about the football year where the Demons are concerned.

The Melbourne Football Club has so far this season produced the same misery for its fans that the global financial crisis has dished up to the world of business and finance. Now, with news of the illness of President and club hero Jimmy Stynes, the Demons could not be at a lower ebb.

All at Demonland wish Jim a speedy recovery and return to full and good health. Throughout his football career he displayed extraordinary spirit and resilience and we have no doubt that he will conquer his illness and return to complete the magnificent work he is doing in building his family, in working with troubled youth through the Reach Foundation and in rejuvenating the Melbourne Football Club.

Over the past twelve months Jim and his board have chalked up some outstanding achievements in reducing debt, establishing and cementing relationships and setting the scene for the club's future both on and off the ground.

Of course, we knew that the on field revival was always going to be a tough struggle and this has proven to be the case. One win from 13 matches, a few promising early signs and then the devastation of the past month or so have sapped the spirit of many. Last Saturday night in Brisbane produced one of the most humiliating performances in the club's history. It wasn't simply that the Demons remained anchored on two goals from midway through the opening term until early in the last but also the way they went about it barely emitting a pulse. And please don't give me any excuses - in a national competition what was presented to the football world was unacceptable.

The ultimate insult was the opposition coach's choice of words after the game when describing his team's 55- point win: "It's not being disrespectful to the opposition in any way but I thought it was one of our poorer performaces this year."

Those words should be enough to sting anyone at the club with an ounce of pride in themselves into action. In fact, any player who can't respond positively to that, shouldn't be in the game.

Which leads to what I can only hope will be a new beginning for the club because, it's really facing what is, in effect, a brand new year with nine remaining rounds that are certainly not, on the face of it, as daunting as the fixture to date.

Included in the run home are three games at the MCG gainst interstate clubs West. Coast, Port Adelaide and Fremantle, a short flight to Canberra to take on the Sydney Swans and return encounters against Richmond and North Melbourne. None of those teams are setting the world on fire and they aren't expected to see finals action this year.

There's also a Round 21 assignment against Carlton which lost on Friday night to the Bombers by 69 points.

On that reckoning, seven of the remaining nine games are against teams whose current form is of considerably poorer standard to what Melbourne has become accustomed in recent matches so the opportunity is definitely available for the club to start afresh from this week.

The Demons can take a new attitude with them bouyed by the life struggle of their spiritual leader. The business people, bankers and accountants who suffered so much over 2008/9 are on the brink of a brand new year. So is the whole Melbourne family. Together, we shall overcome.

THE GAME Melbourne v West Coast Eagles at MCG – Saturday 4 July 2009 at 2.10pm (AEST)

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 14 wins West Coast 24 wins

At the MCG Melbourne 6 wins West Coast 6 wins

Since 2000 Melbourne 5 wins West Coast 8 wins

The Coaches Bailey 1 win Worsfold 1 win

MEDIA

TV Channel 10 at 3pm (delay)

Radio 774 Triple M 3AW

THE BETTING Melbourne to win $2.00 West Coast to win $1.72

LAST TIME THEY MET West Coast 12.18.90 defeated Melbourne 13.4.82 in Round 7, 2009 at Subiaco

Let's face it. The only reason why the Demons were still in the game in its final stages was because of the Eagles' atrocious kicking for goal. They tried hard and plugged away all afternoon but were always going to struggle to win after they lost key defenders Jared Rivers and James Frawley during the game through injury. Brad Miller kicked a few and Brock McLean and Brent Moloney worked hard in the midfield but in the end it was all to no avail and West Coast finished 8 points in front despite kicking one goal less than the visitors.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

Backs Cale Morton Matthew Warnock Ricky Petterd

Half backs Aaron Davey Jared Rivers James Frawley

Centerline Neville Jetta Brock McLean Liam Jungarray Jurrah

Half forwards Cameron Bruce Russell Robertson Matthew Bate

Forwards Brad Green Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones

Followers Mark Jamar Jack Grimes Jamie Bennell

Interchange James McDonald Stefan Martin Brent Moloney Paul Wheatley

Emergencies Daniel Bell Paul Johnson Brad Miller

In Matthew Bate Mark Jamar James McDonald Paul Wheatley

Out Paul Johnson Brad Miller Jack Watts (ill) Matthew Whelan

WEST COAST

Backs Matt Spangher Darren Glass David Wirrpanda

Half backs Scott Selwood Eric Mackenzie Shannon Hurn

Centreline Andrew Embley Matt Priddis Matt Rosa

Half forwards Adam Selwood Josh Kennedy Chris Masten

Forwards Mark LeCras Mitch Brown Quinten Lynch

Followers Nic Naitanui Brad Ebert Sam Butler

Interchange Tyson Stenglein Brett Jones Ben McKinley Chad Fletcher

Emergencies Tim Houlihan Tom Swift Adam Cockie

In Chad Fletcher Brett Jones

Out Daniel Kerr (soreness) Tom Swift

The West Coast Eagles pulled off one of the year's big upset victories in atrocious conditions at Subiaco last week when they overran the reigning premier Hawthorn after an exciting final quarter that showcased the exciting talents of newcomer Nick Naitanui. The tall young ruckman was the talk of the town with his three-goal final quarter which reportedly caused a sell out if Eagle # 9 jumpers in Perth sports stores.

The result and the circumstances were in complete contrast to the events that were taking place across the continent in Brisbane where Demon youngster Jack Watts failed to impress and the team was hammered by the Lions.

The performances also gave the lie to the suggestion that this Saturday's match up at the MCG should be billed as the "battle of the tankers" in a round that otherwise contains some spectacular contests.

This week which is more than three months into the season is delivering to the football public a match up between two undefeated teams St.Kilda and Geelong, a clash between traditional rivals and in form opponents Collingwood and Essendon, a desperate battle between the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn and to counterbalance those contests, the game that sees the only two teams with a chance to gain a first round priority draft pick this year slug it out with one another.

Fascinating!

But John Worsfold's team turned the supposed tankfest or Tom Scully Trophy game on it's head by defying the sceptics and beating the Hawks last week. A win on Saturday means no priority pick at all this year for the Eagles, a prospect that looked unlikely just a few weeks ago.

Now, if the heavens line up properly for them and the other results fall the right way, they could find themselves just one game out of the top 8! The Eagles are certainly not tanking.

And neither are the Demons. They've had a tough run over the past month or so and their young players are showing signs of fatigue. Some of their older brigade who have come back from injury interruptions are also looking tired. At this stage of the journey they don't have the experience and aren't good enough to beat teams contesting the finals.

A return to home soil and to the club's real jumper, the desire to individually and collectively atone for recent poor performances and the emotion of their leader's plight will all be factors in this week's game. Added to that is the fact that West Coast struggles to win games away from home having list their last 17 matches outside WA.

All of these things sway me towards the view that Melbourne will win this week's game by 8 points and thereby make a promising new start to a brand new year. I hope each and every one of our record number in excess of 31,000 members comes to the MCG to witness the event and to support Jimmy and his team.